Earhythmic Studios

|Stomacher: Sentimental Education|
Full Length review from IndependentClauses.com
Stomacher is a band that knows what it is doing. Everything, from the art to the songwriting to the recording techniques, is highly stylized. No part of this album “just happened.” I don’t know what the people in this band are like, but I’m willing to bet they’re a lot like the guys in ’90s staples Live: serious about all aspects of their music and equally as passionate.
The music of Sentimental Education is serious music. These guys take their craft very seriously, and it shows. The easiest comparison to make is to OK Computer. Both albums have a dark, expansive quality about them that was meant to convey the idea that this all meant something. And, true to its companion, the best way to explain the music is through its accompanying art.
The feel of Sentimental Education is very stark. The cover art is a black-and-white photo freckled girl releasing a mouthful of smoke. The girl is looking down at the smoke as if it’s the first puff she’s ever released from her mouth. No name, no words, no color. It has the feel of a film print; I don’t know if it was modeled to look that way or if it actually was taken on film. But the overall image (paired with the name Sentimental Education) conveys a feel that the songs are about the way we are socialized; the idea of how to be a human in our society. The various pictures through the booklet explain this in greater detail: single man with umbrella, man sleeping on train, Asian schoolgirls, a rainy skyline, a jubilant hug, a concerned old man.
The lyrics fit right in line with this thought. The lyrics are descriptions of scenes; not stories, per se, but the feelings that a certain scene (perhaps the scenes portrayed in the booklet’s pictures?) makes the narrator feel. These aren’t pop songs; there aren’t really choruses. They aren’t post-rock pieces; the songs have weight in individual parts and not just in the overall scope of the piece.
The whole atmosphere is dark; set again by the art. Black is the most common color, and the starkness of black and white is common. The music is lush, but not so much so that the feels are obscured by the instruments. “The Devil” has strings (as well as the most spot-on impression of Thom Yorke I’ve ever heard), but the overall feel of total lostness is retained. The meaning is not clogged on the best tracks.
Even though the album speaks as a whole, there are individual tracks that speak louder than others. The delicate, Sigur Ros-esque synth beginning of “Parade” meshes seamlessly with a wiry, Interpol-esque rhythm section to create the type of song that people talk about. It’s the song that sticks out most here, because it’s the best combination of the form and style that they cultivate and downright good songwriting. It’s just a haunting piece of work.
“Police” also sticks out. It’s got a similar wispy feeling running throughout it, but the tempo is high and the adrenaline is pumping. There’s some fuzzy sounds going on, but the main stage is given to the wavering-yet-confident tenor vocals and falsetto. It’s the type of song that seems to become the moment in which it lies; it gives weight to lonely car drives or movie scenes.
The rest of the album falls in the continuum between “The Devil” (totally mood-based) and “Peasant Song” (the tambourine-shaking, distortion chomping, “Electioneering” equivalent).
Sentimental Education trades pop sensibilities for a thoroughly-realized mood, and the results are dramatic. Stomacher very nearly accomplishes everything they set out to on this release; almost everything they shoot for they acquire. This is a great release by a band that has full control and understanding of what they are capable of doing. Their highly stylized rock is powerful, intricate and consuming.
|Murder Practice: Prophecies Of Doom|
Full Length review from CaliHardCore.com
"Prophecies of Doom" is the latest from NorCal's Murder Practice. This self-released full length is their second (the first was released on Westcoast Worldwide) and delivers a darker more crust punk influence into their already heavy sound. Without a doubt a hardcore record they moved into a more underground sound which is good news to me. The music is heavy, mostly fast and chaotic sounding with blistered vocals raging on top. I won't bother comparing this to other bands as it holds up pretty well on its own. There's nine tracks on this vinyl only release (however it does come with a CD of the album on it) and all the songs flow in the same angst ridden river. You can currently check out four of the songs on the band's myspace page which I highly recommend you do. Murder Practice has definitely made a step in the right direction with "Prophecies of Doom," a fitting title for the album. Check it out.
|Breaking Custom: Migraines|
Full Length review from CDBaby.com
Out of the semi-suburban town of Concord, CA emerges a group of four friends dedicated to their love and passion for music. While just finishing the end of their high school years, Breaking Custom has asserted their place in a much older and experienced rock scene. However this does not take away from their many accomplishments. In the past year Breaking Custom has played at over 10 different venues across the Bay Area and has self-produced two albums, “Too Late To Say” (2007) & “Migraines” (2008-2009). With pounding breakdowns and heartfelt choruses, Breaking Custom epitomizes what it means to keep the soul in rock amidst an age of music that so easily gives in to what sells. With a composition of tracks placed with specific purpose, “Migraines” weaves a story of love, anger, and fear both lyrically & melodically and is sure to spike your interest in what is to come of this young group of musicians.
|Radio Suicide: Lights and Sweat|
EP review from Highbeamreview.com
Recently featured in Alternative Press' AP&R section (which features the best unsigned bands of the month), Radio Suicide caught my attention. They had been compared to Four Year Strong and Set Your Goals, both of whom had a large role in the ‘popcore’ trend phenomenon. While I was interested, I expected it to be nothing more than a rehashed version of the aforementioned bands. To my surprise, they were not carbon copies of any band that involves themselves in this trend. While they aren’t the most original band out there, their brand of punk/ melodic hardcore is refreshing if nothing else.
With all of that said, it doesn’t mean that they don’t draw from certain elements from those bands. Something that adds a lot to Four Year Strong and Set Your Goals’ music is their use of gang vocals. Radio Suicide uses them at pre-choruses mostly. They way the place them draws the listener into the chorus. It doesn’t sound like a hook as you would generally think of it in pop music, but it works in a similar fashion. They draw you into that certain section of the song, building anticipation to the next moment, which creates for a very good listening experience.
Musically, they don’t stray far from the norms of melodic hardcore. The guitars are quick and the drums are quicker. It’s all very fast paced, which adds a lot of energy to their music. Just like most of the bands in their genre should.
Vocally, Radio Suicide follows a similar trend as they did with their music but in a slightly more unique way. They lyrics are yelled (and at times screamed) with a passion that is not matched very often, even in this genre. He follows with the energy from the instrumentation and adds a little bit more.
In the end, Lights & Sweat is a great step in the right direction. With their recent feature in Alternative Press, they might just have what it takes to move to the next level. They have more potential then a lot of bands out there and that’s the best thing for a young band to have. I can only hope that they can get the credit that they deserve.
|In Reverent Fear: Stomacher|
Full Length review from DecoyMusic.com
Throughout the years, In Reverent Fear seems to have leapfrogged onto any popular musical trend. Those who give the band's discography only a perfunctory listen will think they're just like any other spineless, unimaginative, make-it-by-any-means band. However, those who have delved even ever-so-lightly into In Reverent Fear's dips into screamo and metalcore will see that, even if the sound was popular at the time, In Reverent Fear could hardly be called mediocre. The band's last album, Written in the A.M., is still an absolutely remarkable record. It's plain to see that they've managed to rise near the top of every genre they've held in their sights. With their latest release, Stomacher, they set their talent-laden eyes on the recent melodic space-rock uprising.
Intro track "All Ripe" brings to mind the now-defunct Engine Down, while follow-up "The Greatest Love" could easily be mistaken for a track Celebrity, for some unknown reason, never released, while at the same time taking on an early 30 Seconds to Mars vibe. From this description, some might assume In Reverent Fear simply plays upon the ideas of others. The rest of Stomacher lies in strict opposition of this idea, as the band quickly takes the reigns of the melodic rock genre, destroying all comers and toppling any other bands that have ever even so briefly considered themselves to be the pinnacle of accomplishment within the genre. As much as some will try to paint In Reverent Fear as a Johnny Come Lately, the fact of the matter is, in just one attempt, they've set themselves firmly atop the genre, utilizing a dizzying array of influences that spreads from Coldplay to Taproot (though much less nasal) to Dredg to Bjork without the slightest hint of idol worship. Their stunning adoption of intermittent horn squalls and jazz-based interludes lead many of the tracks into arenas not before seen by their contemporaries. Nearly every song on Stomacher features at least one unexpected passage, if not two. This, along with the band's nearly unparalleled musicianship and the surprisingly powerful and expansive vocal range of Jarrod, makes this one of the finest albums of the year.
It's no small feat to make such an indelible mark on this over-inundated genre so early into the game, but tracks like "I Feel Beautiful" and "The Streetwalker" are miles beyond the collective works of 90% of those who attempt to lump themselves into the same group as a band like Dredg. This is not even to mention the absolutely captivating performance turned in on "La Foret," the most haunting, beautiful track of 2006, bar none.
Despite all of these soft, orgasmic displays of organic musicianship, Stomacher is also not without a few shouts-out to In Reverent Fear's past, as tracks like "6667777888" and "Ride the Black Horse" contain some of the group's most driving, devastating, metallic, and aggressive moments to date, while still slathering them with hefty doses of melodicism ("Ride the Black Horse," especially). If anything, they act as a bridge between the band's slightly questionable past and their incredibly bright future.
Stomacher ropes you in from its opening seconds and never lets go. Codeseven, Dredg, Woven, and other bands of their ilk have their work cut out for them if they hope to top this release any time soon. It is pure musical magic.
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